The present invention concerns an apparatus for non-contact identifying of red tissue structures in products of slaughtered animal bodies. Furthermore, the present invention concerns a method for non-contact identifying of red tissue structures in products of slaughtered animal bodies, and an arrangement for removing a strip of red tissue structures from products of slaughtered animal bodies.
Such apparatuses, methods and assemblies are used in various sectors of industrial processing of slaughtered animal bodies, for example in processing of fish, meat or poultry products, in particular in processing of fish fillets, for example in processing of tuna fish e.g. skipjack. The red tissue structures are usually heavily blooded tissue types which visually stand out from other tissues. For example said red tissue structures include heavily blooded muscle flesh.
It is known to illuminate the products to be examined, for example fish fillets, and detect the reflected partial radiation or the light radiation scattered in the product, in particular in a translucent product, by means of a detecting device in order to draw conclusions on the product composition. An apparatus and a method for contactless identification of characteristics of translucent products is described for example in document DE 10 2008 013 525 B4.
With the known apparatuses and methods it is indeed possible to detect foreign bodies and/or foreign tissue types, but there is no differentiation between different tissue types, so that the known apparatuses and methods are not suitable for identifying specific tissue types, in particular for identifying heavily blooded tissues.